


This Bitter Sea

by Nightwinging_it



Category: GreedFall (Video Game)
Genre: Drowning, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22978135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightwinging_it/pseuds/Nightwinging_it
Summary: De Sardet and Vasco think they've finally caught a break from deadly missions when they're tasked with investigating missing cargo. But when things take a sudden, dark turn, Vasco must act quickly or risk losing one love to another.
Relationships: De Sardet/Vasco (GreedFall)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	This Bitter Sea

Vasco cracked his eyes open as sunlight lit the room. He shifted a little, momentarily confused when he felt a body against his.

But then he realized it was just De Sardet, still fast asleep. They’d shifted in their sleep, and De Sardet had rolled over to face the wall. Vasco’s arm was lazily draped over De Sardet’s stomach, his face close to De Sardet’s neck.

They had a long day ahead of them, which made Vasco want to lie still and let De Sardet wake up naturally. But he also knew if they took too long getting up and getting ready, the others would come looking for them. He didn’t need De Sardet being caught in such a scandalous position. 

The others knew about their relationship. How could they not? 

It was one thing for their friends to know. A whole other thing for people outside their close-knit group to know, however. 

Vasco wouldn’t risk De Sardet’s reputation. The nephew of Prince d’Orsay, the legate of the Merchant Congregation. Bedding a Naut? 

Not a particularly good look.

Still, it was early. So Vasco let De Sardet sleep for a bit longer before he leaned forward and kissed the other man’s neck.

De Sardet stirred as Vasco trailed kisses down his spine. He reached a hand up and locked his fingers with Vasco’s, pulling his arm further across his stomach.

“Good morning,” Vasco said, pulling away from De Sardet’s skin. He instead tugged De Sardet to face him, and kissed his lips. “We need to get ready soon.”

“In a minute,” De Sardet mumbled against his lips, chasing them as Vasco started to pull away. When he was satisfied, he leaned back a little. “It’s still quite early.”

“Yes, but you wanted to question the Nauts down at port. Best to catch them before they make their way to the tavern,” Vasco said.

“Might I just say how grateful I am that you find pleasure outside the bottle?” De Sardet said, reaching out and tracing his fingers on Vasco’s tattoos. “That man we spoke with last night was so inebriated I’m surprised he knew his own name.”

“The life of the Nauts,” Vasco said, turning his head to kiss De Sardet’s fingers. “At least questioning Nauts isn’t life-threatening. We could use a break after all the beasts trying to kill us recently.” 

“A break from brushes with death?” De Sardet said. “Perhaps you did get into the bottle while I slept.”

Vasco rolled his eyes and sat up, pulling De Sardet with him. “I can hope, can’t I?”

“Just don’t get your expectations up too high. I’d like to think this will be relatively peaceful, but I’ve found things tend to go wrong whenever possible,” De Sardet said. At Vasco’s look, he smiled a little. “Alright, we’ll go with hope. Just a few questions about the missing cargo. I doubt it’ll turn into a brawl.”

Vasco got out of De Sardet’s bed and gathered his clothing from the ground. De Sardet copied him, and the two dressed.

Cargo had gone missing from port for the last two weeks. De Sardet had been asked to investigate, which led to them suspecting a Naut was behind the theft. They were hoping to find out who had access to both the knowledge of the cargo contents and the warehouse they were stored. 

Despite not liking anything that hurt the Nauts’ reputation, Vasco was actually quite relieved at their current mission. The previous week, they’d gotten into a fight with members of the Ordo Luminis who’d been kidnapping Natives. During the battle, a gunshot would’ve taken out De Sardet if he hadn’t happened to move to avoid tripping over a patch of uneven ground, the bullet instead just grazing his arm instead of striking him in the chest.

Vasco had been the only one to see the whole thing happen. Even De Sardet was brushing the incident off as a close-call, apparently becoming too familiar with them to let them shake him up too much. 

So a little investigative work that involved questioning and snooping was a welcome change of pace for a bit. It wouldn’t be long before they were called to more dangerous work, certainly, but Vasco would enjoy the peace while he could.

He went over to where De Sardet was pulling on his gloves. He wrapped his arms around De Sardet’s waist, kissing the side of his neck.

De Sardet was smiling. “It was you who insisted we get up and get moving, Vasco.”

“So it was.” Vasco rested his chin on De Sardet’s shoulder. “Who do you want to take along with us?”

“Kurt,” De Sardet said. “If we manage to find something, best to have him there. Plus, he’s much more intimidating than I am.”

“It’s the facial scars,” Vasco said, letting his arms fall from De Sardet’s waist. “Alright then, let’s be off and get on with this mess. The sooner it’s cleared up, the better.”

De Sardet pulled him in for a quick kiss before heading for the door. “Let’s go.”

Vasco shook his head. “Always has to get the last word in.”

“I heard that,” De Sardet called with the hint of a grin in his voice.

Vasco sighed and followed him out of the room and downstairs. They found Kurt, already dressed and ready to go, and headed out.

The town was starting to wake up bit by bit. A few merchants were preparing for the day, but few civilians were out yet. It was about as quiet as things ever got around here.

“Who are we questioning?” Kurt asked as they walked.

“A Naut named Jordi. From what we gathered last night, he’s a regular guard for the warehouse at night. We’ll see if he knows anything, or has seen anything suspicious, and go from there,” De Sardet said. 

The trio reached the port and came to a stop as they looked around. Vasco tilted his head towards the morning breeze, the waves lapping up against the docks. The sounds of Nauts calling out instructions, the waves hitting the docks, and the white noise of ships being cared for were all familiar and soothing to him. The ocean stretched out vast before them, the sun starting to rise above it and reflect against the waves.

He missed the sea. But he forced his gaze back onto the other thing he’d come to love so much.

De Sardet was looking around. He flagged a Naut down and asked after their target, thanking the woman who’d answered him and leading them to a ship at the end of the port.

A small number of Nauts were taking cargo off a ship. De Sardet moved forward with the sure confidence he always carried.

“Excuse me, we’re looking for a man named Jordi,” he said.

“That’d be me,” a young man said, passing the crate he was carrying over to a woman. “What can I do you for?”

“My name is De Sardet, legate of the Merchant Congregation. I’ve been asked to investigate instances of missing cargo the last two weeks,” he said. “I was told you tend to watch the warehouse at night?”

There was nothing accusatory in De Sardet’s voice. But Vasco saw the change in Jordi’s face.

“De Sardet-” Vasco started.

Jordi didn’t give him a chance to finish.

The man lunged forward, and shoved De Sardet into the water before ducking away from Kurt and taking off at a sprint. 

Vasco watched in horror as De Sardet hit the water. With his clothing and weapons, it would be possible but difficult to keep afloat.

The problem was that De Sardet hit a fishing net on his way down.

Vasco saw his limbs become entangled in it as he hit the water, desperately thrashing and trying to free himself. He sank below the surface with a startled yell.

“De Sardet!” Kurt cried.

But his armor was too heavy. He’d surely sink if he dove in after De Sardet.

“Catch that bastard!” Vasco snapped, and dove into the water.

It was murky, but he could make out the glint of De Sardet’s armor. He was well tangled into the net, but his struggles were growing weak.

Vasco kicked his legs harder, reaching out for De Sardet. He caught a handful of the net and tugged it up towards him. De Sardet had cried out before going under the surface, which meant he’d likely taken in water as he sank. They didn’t have much time.

Vasco got a secure hold on the now-still bundle of net and man. He twisted himself towards the surface and tried to swim up as fast as he could. 

His own clothes combined with the weight of De Sardet slowed him. His lungs burned for air, but he kept focused on the shimmer of sun slipping through the surface, slowly getting closer and closer. He was so close...so close…

Two sets of hands gripped him and yanked him up the rest of the way. He broke the surface, gasping for breath. He felt someone pulling De Sardet from him, and reluctantly let go when he realized the Nauts who had been moving cargo were helping them.

They helped Vasco back up onto the port. Vasco panted and crawled to where they were trying to cut De Sardet free from the net.

“He ain’t breathing!” one of them called as the net came free of his face and chest. His legs were still badly tangled, but Vasco pushed the Nauts out of the way.

“Fetch a doctor,” he said to no one in particular, and tilted De Sardet’s head to help clear his airway. He bent his head close to De Sardet’s mouth. De Sardet’s chest wasn’t moving, and Vasco didn’t feel breath on his cheek as he hovered over De Sardet. 

“Dammit,” Vasco snarled, reaching out and pinching De Sardet’s nose. He bent down and breathed into De Sardet’s mouth, praying this worked so he wouldn’t have to risk breaking his ribs with CPR. 

He sat back, waiting anxiously, counting seconds in his head. Despair struck him as De Sardet laid still, and he prepared himself to give CPR.

But then De Sardet suddenly choked. Vasco hastily rolled him onto his side as he vomited up water onto the dock. Vasco rubbed his back as De Sardet spluttered and choked, wheezing for air and hacking up more water.

“Alright,” Vasco said reassuringly. “You’re alright. I’ve got you. Take it slow.” 

“De Sardet!” Kurt said, running over to them. He dropped to his knees before De Sardet, eyeing him critically and placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked to Vasco.

“He wasn’t breathing at first. Leave it to nobility to be as dramatic as possible,” Vasco said, desperately fighting the urge to hug De Sardet to him and never let go. “Jordi?”

“Knocked the bastard out and left him with some of the guards. We’ll deal with him later,” Kurt said. He shook De Sardet’s shoulder a little. “You alright?”

“F-Fine,” De Sardet managed, and coughed up more water. He rubbed his throat, slumping back in Vasco’s arms. “Need a m-minute.”

“Need a lot of minutes, you stubborn bastard,” Kurt said, but he looked relieved. He pulled out a knife and began to cut the rest of the net free from De Sardet.

“He’ll be okay,” Vasco said, more to reassure himself than Kurt. “He started breathing again pretty quickly, and without CPR.”

De Sardet’s body was trembling, though Vasco couldn’t be sure if that was from the cold or the fear. A Naut came over and draped a blanket over De Sardet, fetching another one for Vasco. Vasco hadn’t even realized how cold he was until the blanket settled over his body.

“I sent for a doctor,” Vasco told Kurt. “Best to have him looked at.”

Kurt nodded. “I’ll clear the area so he has some privacy. Then I’ll be back.”

He got up and began directing the Nauts away from the two of them. Vasco waited until they were gone before pulling De Sardet against his chest and running a hand through his wet hair.

“Told you not to h-hope too m-much,” De Sardet said, his teeth chattering together. Vasco moved to strip off his blanket, but De Sardet caught his arm and shook his head. Instead, he just curled closer to Vasco and tried to share the two blankets between them. “I’ll be o-okay. Just cold.” 

Vasco held him until the doctor arrived with Kurt. And he held him as the doctor made sure he was okay. And he held him as they made their way back to the De Sardet residence. 

Kurt cleared the others out before Vasco brought De Sardet in and settled him in front of the fire. Kurt stood with his arms crossed by the door.

“I’m going to wait outside while you two warm up and rest,” he said. At Vasco’s look, he raised an eyebrow. “Yes, you two. Because you weren’t caught up in a net, but you still dove into the ocean. When you both feel better, we’ll go question Jordi. And break his nose.”

“You mean you didn’t already?” De Sardet said.

Kurt shifted a little. “Well, you can break his...fingers? He has a lot of bones. You’ll find something.”

With that, he slipped out of the door. Vasco tugged at De Sardet’s clothes.

“Come on, you’re soaking,” he said.

“So are you,” De Sardet said. He got up, still a little shaky on his legs, but didn’t need help to stand. 

The two stripped down before wrapping back up in the blankets and sitting side-by-side in front of the fire.The heat from the flames felt amazing against Vasco’s wet skin.

De Sardet dropped his head onto Vasco’s shoulder. He turned his head to kiss Vasco’s shoulder before settling comfortably into the position. 

“Thank you,” he said, voice warm with gratefulness. “I thought…” He shook his head. “I didn’t cross the water just to die in it.”

Vasco swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn’t want to lose one love to another. 

“The sea can be a harsh teacher but a good friend,” Vasco said at last. He put an arm around De Sardet and held him closer. “Now we know to be more careful in future investigations, and you’re still alive.”

“Next time we swim, let’s make sure it’s without me being the catch of the day,” De Sardet said.

Vasco smiled a little at that. De Sardet had nearly drowned, but here he was, assuring Vasco he didn’t fear the water. 

“You are an amazing man,” Vasco said.

“Funny. I was just thinking the same thing,” De Sardet said.

“ Sea and love both share a bitter bite,” Vasco said softly.

“The sea seizes and love seizes,” De Sardet said, gripping Vasco’s hand in his own and squeezing it.

They sat together, warmed by the flames, comforted by each other’s presence. The sea was a love of Vasco’s, but he would never hesitate to pry De Sardet from it’s grasp and into his own arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't turn out at all how I planned it, but it was fun anyways so that's okay! Hopefully you enjoyed it, and hopefully I'll write more Vasco/De Sardet in the future if you guys want to see it ^-^


End file.
